Bay stripers, halibut and deepwater rockfish provide top Labor Day weekend fishing
SAN FRANCISCO – Fishing for striped bass and halibut was outstanding in San Francisco Bay over the Labor Day weekend, while angling for deep water rockfish was superb at the Rittenburg Bank and other offshore locations, now that fishing for nearshore rockfish is closed.
The Lovely Martha out of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and other boats got into a great striped bass bite on the bay on Saturday, Sept. 2.
“It was a great way to kick off the month of September,” reported Mike Rescino, captain of the Lovely Martha. “We finished up with a total of 60 fish on our half-day trip, catching 23 limits (46) of bass and 14 halibut to 12 pounds.”
The stripers averaged 20 to 22 inches long, while the halibut averaged around 7 pounds each. “We caught the halibut near Treasure Island on the outgoing tide, while we hooked the stripers in the South Bay off Hunters Point on the first push of the incoming tide,” said Rescino.
On the previous trip aboard the Lovely Martha, the 8 anglers on a half day trip ended up with 8 limits (6) of quality halibut. Information: (650) 619-6629
Aaron Anfinson, Captain of the Bass Tub, reported excellent rockfish and halibut fishing on his latest live bait potluck trip. The boat returned to the dock with both full limits of rockfish and full limits of halibut. Information: (415) 456-9055.
California Dawn Sportfishing out of the Berkeley Marina continues to fish the Rittenberg Bank, located 31 miles off the Marin County Coast, with great success. The California Dawn 2 returned with 19 limits of rockfish (190) and 32 lingcod to 20 pounds on Saturday, September 2, while the California Dawn I checked in with 16 limits of rockfish and 19 lingcod to 20 pounds, reported Captain James Smith.
Then on Sunday, September 3, Smith reported, “Anglers experienced some incredible fishing at Rittenburg Bank. The final count was 28 limits of rockfish (280) and 28 limits of lingcod (56) to 25 pounds.” Information: (510) 417-5557. Information: (510) 652-3403.
Boats out of Emeryville also did very well on deep water rockfish and lingcod over the weekend. On September 3, the New Huck Finn returned with 280 rockfish and 56 lingcod for 28 anglers, the Sea Wolf came back with 200 rockfish, 40 lingcod, 7 petrale sole and 113 sanddabs for 20 anglers and the Tigerfish checked in with 170 rockfish and 8 lingcod for 17 anglers.
“The boats are fishing a variety of spots west of the Farallon Islands at depths of 300 to 500 feet,” said Andy Guiliano at Fish Emeryville. “Most anglers are using shrimp flies, tipped with squid strips, for the rockfish and live bait on trap rigs or bars for the lingcod. The majority of rockfish being caught are widow, yellowtail, vermilion, canary and chilipepper rockfish.”
On Friday, September 1, the closure of the 50-fathom Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) boundary line for the Mendocino Groundfish Management Area (GMA) (Cape Mendocino to Point Arena), San Francisco GMA (Point Arena to Pigeon Point) and Central GMA (Pigeon Point to Point Conception), went into effect, according to an announcement by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
In these GMAs, recreational boat-based groundfish fishing will be ‘offshore only’ and allowed only seaward (away from land) of the 50-fathom boundary line, defined by straight lines connecting waypoints(opens in new tab) (50 CFR Part 660, Subpart G). Shelf rockfish, slope rockfish and lingcod may be taken seaward of the 50-fathom boundary line.
It will be unlawful to take or possess nearshore rockfish as defined in Title 14, Section 1.91(a)(1), cabezon or greenlings at any depth. In the Southern GMA from Pt. Conception to the U.S.-Mexico border, these same ‘offshore only’ rules will take effect as originally planned on Sept. 16.
During the ‘offshore only’ fishery, fishing gear shall not be deployed shoreward of the 50-fathom RCA boundary line when shelf rockfish, slope rockfish or lingcod are possessed onboard the vessel; However vessels may transit shoreward of the 50-fathom RCA boundary line with these species in possession if no gear is deployed.
Additionally, vessels fishing in the adjacent Southern GMA and transiting back to the Central GMA must adhere to the ‘offshore only’ provisions effective in the Central GMA and shall not return with nearshore species aboard. These changes do not apply to shore-based anglers or divers.
CDFW said it is “carefully monitoring the harvest of quillback rockfish from both the recreational and commercial fisheries throughout the state and has taken a series of steps in an effort to reduce quillback rockfish mortality. On Aug. 7, retention of quillback rockfish was prohibited statewide, followed by closure of the recreational nearshore fishery in the Northern GMA, on Aug. 21.”
“Newly available recreational data from the Mendocino, San Francisco and Central GMAs for the second week of August showed double the estimated recreational take and indicated the 2023 quillback rockfish harvest limit specified in federal regulations has been exceeded. This additional in-season action authorized by Title 14, Section 27.20 (e) to adjust the fishing depth is necessary to prevent further overage.,” the agency stated.
CDFW urges anglers to use best fishing practices to reduce impacts to quillback rockfish and other prohibited groundfish species. These include reducing mortality when releasing fish by utilizing a descending device (PDF)(opens in new tab) and relocating to different fishing grounds or switching targets if quillback rockfish or other prohibited species are encountered.
CDFW recommends reviewing the Summary of Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulations page before each trip to ensure anglers are up to date on the most recent groundfish regulations, including a complete list of authorized species.
For information on all groundfish regulations visit CDFW’s Marine Region Groundfish page: https://wildlife.ca.gov/conservation/marine/groundfish
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Bay stripers, halibut and deepwater rockfish provide Labor Day fun
